Texas taxpayers will never be told how much money is spent on the Governor’s security as he traveled around his various official and political activities. This flies in the face of the state’s long history of open government.

Democracy needs citizens to have access to the information they can use to the performance of their government. The call for openness has been bipartisan and Perry’s continued opposition to open government should not be mistaken for conservatism simply because if protects the political ambitions of a conservative candidate. Ironically, Perry’s latest fight against open government comes as he is seeking the support of “Tea Party” supporters who distrust government.

This is not Perry’s first clash with advocates of open government. In 2007 the Governor’s office began a battle with John Washburn and other advocates of open government who learned that the governor’s office was routinely deleting email records in an attempt to keep their activities from being scrutinized.